OCR Text |
Show B6 Wednesday, December 26, 2007 i f i. ..n.mjpivrWjH 'Jipup " ' """wjesj.c" -7 1 , i, ir - - -- Vernal Express Recreation district funds to Vernal Victim Advocacy playground Utah is ranked first in economic reports By Marleah Jacobson Victim advocate volunteer Lena Johnson sits on the playground equipment outside the Vernal City Offices. The playground was bought with the money donated by the Uintah Recreation District. "The Vernal Victim Advocacy Program really wants to thank the Uintah Recreation Board," victim advocate Brenda Halbert said. T7 . -Hi! i f- I . ) rs m f n rj p Here's hoping your holiday season is well supplied with family, friends, festivity and plenty t i . . 1 orgooanmestogoarouna. 1 Thank you for your continued and loyal business. We hope you'll stop by and visit us again soon. Merry Christmas. Northeastern Utah Office Supplf t 789-9072 722-4284 V 32 W Main St 1 Vernal UN. 200 e. Roosevelt 6 A. Express Writer In the cold of winter it might be hard to picture children playing play-ing on a playground. But this image will become a reality next spring at the Victim Advocacy Office thanks to the generosity of the Uintah Recreation District's grant of $500 in September. Victim Advocacy chose to use this money to purchase a Little Tykes Playground. "Sometimes there are children chil-dren who are in the victim's advocacy office with parents," explained director Pamela Webster. Web-ster. "They hear everything that is going on." Webster explained it is difficult dif-ficult for a child to hear their parent discussing abuse. "Generally when people come into our office they are in a state of crisis," said victim advocate Brenda Halbert. "We do have a few toys in our office, but when the weather is better it will give the children a bigger area to move around and play while we assist the parents." Even in Vernal, the number of children affected by violence . is staggering. "Well over 200 kids have been witnesses of domestic abuse since the beginning of the year," Webster said. "A lot of timeswegooncallandrespondto crisis situations where children are involved." Victim Advocacy is a nonprofit non-profit organization funded by Vernal in combination with grants. Victim Advocacy works in close connection with the women's shelter. "We kind of work together with the families," Halbert said. "We notify and accompany victims through various court proceedings. We work as a team with the shelter. Both of our programs are vital to each other." Victim Advocacy also pro vides on-the-scene-24-hour crisis intervention. A victim advocate accompanies victims throughout the legal justice process, assists victims in completing Protective Orders or Civil Stalking Injunctions, Injunc-tions, responds to victim's needs along with law enforcement and refers victims to affiliated agencies agen-cies such as the women's shelter. The office is located in the Vernal City Offices at 447 E. Main Street in Vernal. Contact the office at 789-4250 or an-call advocate at 789-4222. Utah is the most competitive state in the nation, according to two economic development reports issued last week. The Becon Hill Institute's State Competitiveness Report for 2007 and the ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index each listed Utah in the top position. The reports are based on quantifying indexes and variables vari-ables that include fiscal policy, security, infrastructure, business busi-ness incubation, state minimum wage, tax policy and education freedom. "These top competitive rankings rank-ings certainly recognize our work ethic, creativity and strong economic engine driven by entrepreneurs en-trepreneurs who are taking us in the right direction," said Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. "This is an exciting addition to the Kauff-man Kauff-man Foundation's top ranking as the most dynamic state in the nation earlier this year." Utah ranked second in government gov-ernment and fiscal policy as well as infrastructure and business incubation, according to the Becon Hill Report. Last year's report ranked Utah second in competiveness. "These two rankings validate the great things happening here in business and economic development," said Jason P. Perry, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "These reports include forward thinking formulas formu-las and point to Utah as not only having been competitive enough to achieve the top ranking, but more importantly the economic movement that will continue in this very positive direction." The ALEC-Laffer report "Rich States Poor States" ranked Utah number one in economic competitiveness. The American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, has been in existence since 1973 and is the nation's largest individual membership organization of state legislators with more than 2,400 members. This economic development report re-port was the first of its kind for the group. Utah also ranked No. 1 in estateinheritance tax as well as state minimum wage and right-to-work, according to the ALEC-Laffer report. tneyi X Reward offered for information on McKinnon, Wyo burglary Have A Jolly Good Time! Before we doe into all the festivities. we d like to ttike a moment to acknowledge all of the people who have made this year go swimmingly well for us. Merry fhrtstmasl I 146 West Main Street. Vernal 789-4867 The victims of a burglary in the McKinnon, Wyo., area are offering a reward for information informa-tion leading to the capture of the person or persons who recently burglarized their home, taking several items, including nine firearms. According to Sweetwater County Sheriff Rich Haskell, his agency is investigating the burglary of a Wyoming residence located just off Highway 414 near the Utah border north of Manila. He said the family that owns the residence is offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the person or persons who burglarized the home, plus the return of their property. Property stolen during the burglary includes the following: follow-ing: Two fencing foils (special fencing swords) A black six-string electric guitar , . . A single-hammered iron knife blade about 7" long, which is missing its handle Two silver salad serving sets A Rogers sterling silver dinner din-ner spoon Several sterling silver Ger-ber Ger-ber baby spoons . An assortment of sterling silver dining utensils An assortment of flint arrowheads ar-rowheads 12 to 14 western Bolo ties, black, brown or grey and tan in color with turquoise, silver and silver dollar emblems on the slides A pair of brown Big Mac Wellington work boots A stainless steel Ruger Security Secu-rity Six revolver, .357 Magnum caliber A blued Ruger Security Six revolver, .357 Magnum caliber A stainless steel Ruger Super 1 Single Six revolver, .22 magnum" caliber w .w '.. ; ,,( . . ... A Colt Officer's Model semiautomatic pistol, .45 ACP caliber An snubnosed Iver Johnson break-open revolver, .22 caliber A short-barreled stainless steel Ithaca Model 37 12-gauge pump-action combat shotgun with a sling and extended magazine maga-zine A Browning Model BLR-81 lever-action rifle, .308 Winchester Win-chester caliber A Remington semi-automatic Nylon Model 66 rifle, .22 caliber A Remington Model 788 bolt-action rifle, .223 caliber, fitted with a telescopic sight Haskell said that anyone with information concerningthe burglary bur-glary andor the property that was stolen should contact the Sheriffs Office in Green River, Wyo., at (307) 872-6350. The sheriff and confirmed discretion would be exercised in handling any information called iiA if 1 . . .ft.' ,. Exercise your right to determine how Utah's land is used. His future depends on it. The responsible development of our resources has always played an important role in Utah's economic well-being, especially in our rural communities. Continued access to public lands means jobs and economic health for our rural areas. It also creates tax revenues that benefit everyone in our state. Don't let out-of-state special interests decide Utah's future. Tell the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that you want to keep public lands available for recreation and economic development. After all, the future isn't something you inherit, it's something you create. Go to www.PureUtah.us to send your comment to the BLM. Or send It via mail to: Bureau of Land Management Vernal Field Office RMP Comments 170 South 500 East Vernal, UT 84078 The formal public comment period closes January 3, 2008. C0PURE This message brought to you by Protect Utah's Rural Economy (PureUtah.us). |